By Brendan Oliver Bergh
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

LIMA, Peru – A new local ordinance in Lima was enacted with the intent of relocating a market due to hygiene concerns. The police tasked with closing down the markets in La Parada were met with violent protests from stall-owners and local citizens. While resistance was expected, the police were not originally prepared for the levels of violence they encountered.

The market at La Parada is known to be filled with criminals and a place where you can buy stolen and black market goods. The resistance that the National Police of Peru have faced may have been a shock, but protesters have a method for their madness. Beyond the mere criminal aspects of the market, numerous law-abiding shopkeepers are being forced to relocate into this new market. Critics of the relocation claim that the new market space will not provide sufficient space with a much higher rent.

The forced market relocation began with a  riot. Police originally used concrete blocks and bricks to stop supply trucks from entering the La Parada market. They were attacked with clubs and bricks, the police responded with live ammunition and tear gas.

On the first day, one person was shot and killed and a police officer was beaten to near death. The protests continued and two more people died in clashes with the police.

Lima’s Mayor, Susana Villaran, has accused stall-owners of hiring criminals to stall the police with rocks and clubs, claiming that the real merchants want to move into the new market. She continued that “We are regaining order and security in an area that has only been one of disorder, chaos, insecurity and filth.”

As the police have managed to pacify the area 2,000 officers have remained to enforce public order and restrict the recreation of the markets. 1,500 have been stationed at supply centers to prevent recurrence of violence or allow trucks to enter the area and restock the protesters and bring food into the area. Another 500 have been sent to patrol the area to ensure that peace and dissuade criminals from re-continuing their illegal acts.

The Ministry of Interior has announced a campaign to identify the criminal who caused the riots and began attacking policemen. They plan on n using surveillance equipment in order to identify protesters  The police will also begin putting up physical and digital posters with the faces of the agitators. The Ministry expects the support of the population in this matter.

To date 101 people have been arrested, including 6 minors.

For further information, please see:

Andina Agencia Peruana De Noticias – More Than 2,000 Officers Remain At The Stop To Ensure Public Order – 28 October 2012

La Republica – The Stop: Interior Minister Announces Campaign To Identify Attackers Of Police – 28 October 2012

RPP Noticias – Pedraza Assumes Some Responsibility For Acts Of La Parada – 28 October 2012

The BBC – Peru Clashes: Two More Die In Lima Market Protests – 27 October 2012

By Brendan Oliver Bergh
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SANTIAGO, Chile – The last members of the Mapuche Indian hunger strike protesting the Chilean government has ended. The Indigenous Inmates hunger strike which began July12 2012 was in protest of the treatment they received and misuses of their ancestral lands.

Late Sunday Evening one of the protesters,  Quijo Leonardo had to be transferred from his cell after abdominal pain led to a minor episode of cardiac arrest. However at the medical center he refused medical treatment after a blood test and the staff was forced to return him to the prison in Temuco, Chile.

The Mapuche inmate strike began with members of the indigenous tribe forsaking food and medical treatment. These inmates believing themselves to be political prisoners are protesting the Chileans treatment of the Mapuche indigenous tribe. They continue that their group has been unfairly prosecuted and their human rights continually violated. Their numbers have slowly dwindled during the past 2 months as health reasons have forced them to abandon their protest of the Chilean laws that placed them in prison.

The prison in Angol has a permanent group of protesters outside the cities jail, actively protesting the anti-terrorist law. The bulk of the protest is criticizing the Chilean governments use anti-terrorism laws that unfairly prosecute Mapuche members. Known as the Anti-Terrorism Act, it was originally enacted by General Pinochet who used it to quell dissent and subversives of his government. In 1993 the government began enforcing the law to actively criminalize the Mapuche social movement. The law allows citizens to be detained indefinitely and tried in military tribunal courts where they would receive harsher sentences than in a civilian court.

While the Chilean government has vowed to support changes to the anti-terrorism laws, Mapuche protesters are still being met with violent response from the countries national police force. The hunger strike that was just ended could be seen as an extension of the a similar strike that occurred two years prior where 30 Mapuche inmates refused food. Their message was overshadowed by the rescue of the trapped Chilean Miners in 2010.

Chilean government officials and representatives feared violent conflict as the protest continued, with human rights experts fearing a violent outburst if one of the protesters died. Small skirmishes have already erupted on October 15^th, after individual inmates suffered health risks as a result of their hunger strikes.

While not all their demands were met, representatives believe that “The steps taken to end the hunger strike have reached a satisfactory conclusion,” and would be welcomed by the Mapuche people.

There are approximately 650,000 Chileans who identify as members of the Mapuche, almost 3.5 percent of the people in Chile.

For further information; please see:

Latercera – Mapuche Still On Hunger Strike And Refuse Medical Care – 22 October 2012

Latin America Herald Tribune – Last 10 Mapcuche Indians On Hunger Strike In Chile End Fasting – 22 October 2012

UNPO – Mapuche: Court Action For Human Rights Against Chile – 22 October 2012

The Argentina Independent – Chile: Court Sends Mapuche Hunger Strikers Back To Prison – 19 October 2012

Sounds and Colours Magazine – Mapuche Hunger Strike In Chile Highlights The Real Problem Facing President Sebastian Pinera – 15 October 2010

By Margaret Janelle R. Hutchinson
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BOGOTÁ, Colombia – United Nations Human Rights experts published an open letter today voicing serious concerns that constitutional amendments currently before Congress would enable members of the military or police forces (Fuerza Pública) to avoid prosecution for substantial violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.

The proposed amendments pertain to articles 116, 152 and 221 of Colombia’s Constitution.  According to the 11 experts who signed the letter, the modifications would essentially allow the Fuerza Pública to self-police, at least at the initial critical stages of investigations.

The constitutional reform project would expand the jurisdiction of military or police tribunals, giving them the power to investigate, process and decide on cases of human rights violations, which, according to the experts, should be under the authority of the ordinary criminal justice system.

According to the letter, “[S]uch a reform would represent a historic setback to the progress achieved by the State of Colombia in the fight against impunity and respect and guarantee of human rights.”

Notably, the criminal military justice institutions would not gain jurisdiction over crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and the crime of enforced disappearances.  However, military and police courts would be competent to investigate, process and judge a long list of other violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, including war crimes; arbitrary detention; cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; and other violations such as violence against the person and mutilation; taking of hostages; outrages upon personal dignity, including humiliating treatment; and the obligation to treat persons taking no active part in the hostilities humanely in all circumstances, without any distinction on grounds of ethnicity, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria, prohibited by virtue of common article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions. These courts could also have jurisdiction over crimes committed by private security forces.

Paramilitary groups were set up in the 1980s by rich landowners looking for protection from rebels. But as they pushed back insurgents, the militias often massacred people on suspicion that they had colluded with guerrillas.

Over the last decade, scores of members of Colombia’s Congress have been jailed for links to paramilitary groups, and new accusations and cases continue to arise six years after the militias officially demobilized in a government-run process.

Thousands of people have been killed and millions more displaced in 50 years of war between the Colombian government and leftist guerrillas, whose grievances include the unequal distribution of land.

Negotiators from the government and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have agreed to meet in Cuba in mid-November to start what are likely to be thorny peace talks aimed at patching together an end to the conflict, both sides said in Norway on Thursday after initial talks.

For further information, please see:

Chicago Tribune – Colombian forces could skirt prosecution, U.N. experts warn – 22 October 2012

Colombia Report – Colombian constitutional reform ‘undermines justice’: UN – 22 October 2012

KUNA – UN experts call on the authorities to reform the military criminal justice in Colombia – 22 October 2012

United Nations Human Rights – Open letter by Special Procedures mandate-holders of the Human Rights Council to the Government and representatives of the Congress of the Republic of Colombia – 22 October 2012

 

By Brendan Oliver Bergh
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BRASILIA, Brazil – A report issued by the International American Press Association (IAPA) has declared that Argentina, Ecuador and Venezuela were the most dangerous countries for journalists and the free press.

Early on October 9 Argentina’s top TV Journalist was imprisoned in a Venezuelan airport backroom. Jorge Lantata a critic of the Venezuelan and Argentinean political regimes was detained along with his crew. During their detention they had their camera, computer and cellphone data erased before being allowed to leave the nation. Just hours after covering the Venezuelan election they were interrogated and accused of espionage by Venezuela’s secret service.

The disappearing and intimidation of journalists and dissidents in Latin America is no new event. Many countries from South America have a history of trouncing on the men and women who tolerate and preserve freedom of the press. Colombia for example has seen 54 murdered journalists in the past decade. Yet while civil liberties are being broadened in the hemisphere, freedom of the press still faces many obstacles. After meeting in San Paolo Brazil the 68^th General Assembly of IAPA released a survey that 67% of journalists in the region thought that freedom of the press was at risk in the hemisphere, while 82% of journalists in Venezuela believe that the press is most at risk under newly elected President Chavez.

The IAPA continued that 13 journalists have been murdered in the past six months in Mexico, Honduras, Brazil and Ecuador “[F]or the simple fact that they were doing their work.” They continued that the press is being intimidated at times for informing the people “On issues relevant to the national and international public.”

The threats facing the freedom of the press is not simply violence and threats, but the government institution that creates statutes and regulations help to stifle a free press. There are major factors threatening freedom of speech including impunity in cases involving free press violations, censorship and the relationship between journalists and the governments they report on.

The IAPA accused the presidents of Venezuela, Argentina and Ecuador of silencing independent journalists in their respective countries. Jaime Mantilla the new president of the IAPA explained that the governments do this “Through regulatory legislation, discrimination in official advertising, and immense state-run and private media mechanisms used to slander and carry out dirty campaigns.”

In 2011 four journalists were killed in Brazil, 3 in Peru and one each in Colombia and Paraguay.

 

For further information, please see:

ABC News – Press Group Says Violence Threatens Americas Media – 16 October 2012

Infosur Hoy – IAPA: Argentina, Venezuela, Ecuador Most Hostile To American Journalism – 15 October 2012

El Universal – IAPA Survey: Press Freedom In Venezuela Is At Risk – 15 October 2012

The Guardian – Venezuelan Secret Service Erased Our Data, Claims Journalist – 8 October 2012

The Guardian – 24 Journalists Killed In Latin America In 2011 – 6 January 2012

By Margaret Janelle R. Hutchinson
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay – Late last month Uruguay’s Lower House contemplated and passed legislation that would give women the right to an elective abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, and decriminalize later-term abortions when the mother’s life is at risk or when the fetus is so deformed that it wouldn’t survive after birth.  Wednesday that bill also narrowly passed in the Senate, by a vote of 17 to 14.

President José Mujica has openly supported the legislation. Alberto Breccia, a top aide to Mr. Mujica, said Wednesday that the president had no plans to veto the bill, almost ensuring that it would become law by early November.

If it does become law, it would be the second of its kind in South America; Guyana allows elective abortion up until the 8th week of pregnancy.

Uruguay is already considered one of the most liberal countries in South America.  It was the first nation to officially separate the state from the Catholic Church in the early 1900’s and President Mujica has also discussed the possibility of legalizing marijuana in the tiny country.

Uruguay may be geographically small, but pro-choice advocates hope this potential law will make a big impact on neighboring nations.  Although there have been many advances in terms of sexual rights in South America – most notably with Brazil and Argentina legalizing same-sex unions in 2004 and 2010, respectively – abortion is extremely divisive.

Just last week the Argentinian Supreme Court issued a ruling granting an abortion to a women rescued from a prostitution ring.  Even though Argentina allows abortion in the case of rape, a lower court judge had blocked the procedure claiming there was no proof of rape.

Véronica Pérez, a political scientist at Montevideo’s University of the Republic says,

“In terms of the reactions and conflicts [abortion and same-sex marriage] provoke in society,” pushing same-sex unions isn’t the same as advocating the legalization of abortion. For same-sex marriage or gay adoption, for some men it’s like ‘that’s OK, I don’t like it much but it doesn’t affect my rights.’ On the other hand, a woman’s decision to interrupt her pregnancy strikes at the core of masculine decision-influencing power.”

Chile, considered the most conservative country in the region, outright bans abortion even in the case of rape.  Chile only legalized divorce in 2004.

This week’s vote was the third time the bill has been introduced in the Uruguayan Parliament and the Senate’s final vote tally of 17 in favor and 14 against shows how divisive the issue remains. A previous bill was approved in 2008, but then-President Tabaré Vázquez vetoed it.

For further information, please see:

The Christian Science Monitor – Uruguay’s Senate approves abortion bill: Will there be a ripple effect? – 19 October 2012

TIMEWorld – Uruguay Diverges From a Continent Where Abortion is Worse Than Rape – 19 October 2012

BBC News – Uruguay legalises abortion – 17 October 2012

The New York Times – Uruguay Senate Approves First-Trimester Abortions – 17 October 2012

The Wall Street Journal – Uruguay Senate Legalizes Abortion – 17 October 2012